The dramatic incident unfolded at the Premier convenience store at Jellicoe Drive in Mudeford over the weekend.
The blood-freezing moment a shop owner’s life was threatened by masked raiders. Somehow Cuma Karakus managed to fight off two unidentified men who demanded cash from his till – one of whom was armed with a large blade. A knife-wielding man in black tried to stab Mr Karakus at least twice while his accomplice stood at the door keeping watch.
But the brave shop keeper fought back, armed with anything he could find, including a jar, a large roll of packing string and even his chair, before he chased the two men away into the street. Amazingly Mr Karakus sustained only a small cut to his right thumb – a defensive wound which Mr Karakus believes was inflicted as the robber launched at him with the knife.
“When I watch the footage, I start shaking,” he said, clutching his chest.
“I was sitting here and I heard ‘gimme the money’. Sometimes people joke when they come in and say that but I thought it isn’t one of them.
“Then I saw a knife in my face.
“After that it’s hard to remember what happened.”
The incident occurred at 8.53pm on Saturday.
Two men, a 24-year-old man from Christchurch and a 21-year-old man of no fixed abode, were arrested on suspicion of robbery and released on bail.
Mr Karakus said he doesn’t know how he managed to keep the armed thieves at bay and it wasn’t until afterwards he realised that his life had been in real danger.
“At the time I don’t know what happened or how I did that but afterwards, when I looked back on it, I was really scared,” he said.
His hand shook as he added: “Nothing like this has happened before. We did get robbed before but I wasn’t working. I don’t think they used a knife but the worker gave them money and that was a Saturday. That happened last year.”
The NPAS police helicopter was launched to help Dorset Police fficers search the area following Saturday evening’s attack.
